Students need to learn relevant technology skills to succeed in the modern workforce. This lesson allows students to master skills with an inquiry based investigation on how humans contribute to changes in ecosystems. With a better understanding of issues facing our planet, students increase their ability to voice their concerns and facilitate change.

Students will take a field trip to a local county park or nature preserve that has several distinct habitat types. Each team of students will document as many distinct habitats as they can and ultimately present their video products to the rest of the class.

Students in grade 7 and 8 will travel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Grand Canyon in Williams, Arizona to investigate and measure the soil and water quality (if water can be found) for each of five life zones. The five life zones are the Lower Sonoran or low hot desert; the Upper Sonoran or desert steppe; the Transition or open woodlands; the Canadian or fir forest; and the Hudsonian or spruce forest. This is equivalent to studying the life zones found from Mexico to Canada. The latest technology will be used to complete the field studies and record and communicate their findings.

Students will use video photography to create a Public Service announcement about our micro-world. Then using MS office software, video record a narrative on a green screen. They will inlay the background photos.

The human nervous system is composed of three distinct types of neurons--sensory neurons, associative neurons and motor neurons. These specialized nerve cells correlate to the three categories of Cubelets--Sense, Think and Action. This lesson will provide students with anticipatory set when studying the nervous system.

Students make careful observations of three different ecosystems on our school property (hopefully using digital cameras, to add to their data). They compare and contrast, in order to learn about interactions between living and non-living components of each.

Students will work together in families to discover one of Earth’s biomes. As a family, the students will focus their research on the climate, typical flora and fauna, and typical weather cycles of their biome. The family will then use their knowledge of thermal energy combined with their research data on their biome to design, construct and present their home design and reasoning to the class in a creative manner.
Students will then do further research into weather patterns, statistical data of precipitation, temperature, hours of sunshine, etc and viable renewable energy possibilities so that families can then add to their homes a unique means to use the natural resources in their biome as a renewal resources to generate energy for their home.

Using NEO (NASA Earth Observations) satellite images and NIH ImageJ to animate the images, students will explore various aspects of climate change. From the montage of images, students will write a report describing various areas of climate change.
Grade level: secondary

Using Flip cameras and Pinnacle video editing software, the student task was to create a 1-2 minutes video on human impact on the globe. The video was take the form of a news broadcast as if they were filming "on location".

Maui is an island under siege from invasive species and ecological damage brought upon by humans. Teach your students about Maui's beauty and the importance of conservation through this scientific activist podcast.

Integrating technology in the curriculum is vital for the students to learn 21st century skills. By collaborating with the fourth grade classroom teacher and combining science in the computer class the students can learn subject matter in an interactive, self-directed method.

An arroyo that bisects our campus is the setting for student groups to explore the influence of flora, fauna, humans, land, water, and weather in this watershed environment. Students will use flip cameras and digital still cameras to document their observations and create digital presentations.

Students will be able to apply their knowledge of the rainforest ecosystem to create peer interviews with Flipcams. These interviews will be edited and posted on our district website as well as sites such as www.teachertube.com for students to convey their understanding of:
• The various strata of the rainforest, and the role that each plays in the overall health of the ecosystem.
• The interdependence humans have with the rainforest for health needs.
• The great diversity of the animal kingdom that resides in the rainforest as well as the effect deforestation has on these species.
• How our actions can directly impact the rainforests. Students should be able to persuade others to take simple steps to protect these regions of the world.

Reading informational text and comprehending the science involved is difficult for most students. Chunking the material into smaller concept oriented blocks allow students to investigate content one concept at a time in order to focus on necessary vocabulary. Whole class reading allows for all students to hear and follow the information to be read. Students complete an accompanying activity allowing for reinforcement of the concept while working in collaborative groups for student to student support. Students will complete “reading labs” in assigned groups during science class. Topics will address concepts in Earth Science/Geosciences involving storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, biomes, ecosystems, and populations.

Students have been conducting river studies for over five years in 6th grade. A true reflection of the experience is necessary for true learning. Writing advocacy projects and sharing them through podcasting helps to reflect on the experience.

7th Graders: Geography affects the characteristics of a country. Natural resources can determine
the success or failure of a country. Each country is rich in culture, even if they are a
poor country. Each student will appreciate his or her life‐styles, and opportunities
compared to poverty stricken countries. Global issues are complex, and the student
will explain the challenges the rainforest ecosystem is facing, and will develop a plan
of action they can do to help

Students develop a research question and then gather the data to answer that question using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Scallop Survey database. Students present the results in a formal classroom presentation and a scientific poster session which is open to the public.

While technology is the way of the future, the future of endangered plants and animals are our responsibility. Students will learn about ecology and biology of animals and plants in our community and create movies and picture books as their culminating projects.

Students will collect historical photos from libraries, newspapers and family collections for comparison to recent photos to be taken by the class. Students will compare photos to assess changes in landscape, industry and neighborhoods and blog their results.

In this lesson, students will use flip cams to film clues about members in the marine food chain. The goal is to solve the puzzle of who ate Archy the Anchovy! Once clues are filmed, an interactive PowerPoint will be created for students to complete a problem-solving activity to solve this mystery!